We need balanced development across the country - Governance Expert

Jan. 17, 2017, 9:51 a.m.

A governance analyst and former chief economist at the Bank of Ghana, Dr. A. O Abudu says it will be possible or feasible for the various districts, municipalities and metropolis to adopt reforms in mobilizing funds rather than depending on the allocated funds from government.

According to him, our development in Ghana has concentrated in putting projects in the capital city; as well as some investments in some areas across the country, depriving others of development.

Speaking in an interview, the economist argued that, areas such as Accra could generate enough resources due to the major activities compared to some areas.

In his view, there have been no investments at all in some areas and these areas have really suffered and their condition is worse than ''even we were just before independence''.

‘’They don’t have any resources from where they mobilize. So my feeling is that, due to this inequality that exists between various levels of development in the country, there are some places which will need additional resources from the central government.

And the reason why I am saying this is that, the whole idea about developing a country is to make the development balanced and in most cases, favour the rural areas so that they can also be developed; so in the distant future the average Ghanaian will be just as equally comfortable to live, work and earn a living anywhere in the country without necessarily favouring any particular place simply because there is so much concentration of development in that particular area.’’

The economist said. ‘’if we want the country to be developed or have a balanced development throughout, then there are some areas where they can afford to raise enough revenue for their own development and there are others which cannot afford that. So the central government must still have to give them some money in order to bring up their level of development. So in the future, they can be comparable to those who are now favoured.’’

When asked if the mobilization of resources will be a fair playing field for the various assemblies, Dr. Abudu said, ‘’if resources are not the same then we must find a way to equalize development. If you allow just a few places to develop very and fast, then population will move there and then you create additional problems of congestion and so on; and in fact, even more expenses for those particular areas. So you need to bring about balanced development throughout the whole country.’’